Rebirth
by aisu10
Summary: Noodle realizes that the faulty robot she was forced to destroy deserves a second chance at life.
1. Chapter 1

Noodle stared down at the robot she'd just destroyed. Her bewildered eyes laid on the cyborg's face, which was no longer contorted into a violent smile, but now looked hauntingly blank.

Noodle's heart was pounding in her chest and she shuddered violently with every breath. She could have sworn the robot had said something before the light had left her eyes. She could have sworn she'd heard the world '_Noodle_' escape her robotic clone's lips just as she tore her down with a shot through the guts. The wound was still smoking - oil and blood seeping out steadily - and Noodle was still staring with such shock and confusion that she couldn't move.

Murdoc was the first to speak. He was behind Noodle, his expression grim and nervous.

"She was... broken," he said slowly, gruffly. "She's never acted like that before. Something must've gone wonky in 'er."

"Don't make excuses!" Noodle cried out suddenly, rage exploding inside her and causing her to whip around and almost hit Murdoc with the muzzle of her rifle. Murdoc ducked and lifted his hands to protect himself with a sharp_ "Hey!"_.

"You created that monster. You thought you could just replace me? You could just - "

"She wasn't a monster," 2D said softly from where he was standing and shivering, dripping wet from his narrow escape from the whale.

Noodle stared at the blue-haired singer for a long moment - just long enough for Murdoc to slink away and escape the wrath of the angry Japanese woman before him.

Noodle's eyes moved from 2D's dark sockets to the equally empty eyes of the deceased robot lying at her feet. She had looked so evil a minute ago, but now that she was dead, she was just... pitiful. The more Noodle looked at her face, the more freaked out she became by the way that the robot looked almost identical to her, four years ago. It was almost as if - she'd just killed herself.

But no, she hadn't - this was_ not_ her. This was some faulty robot copy that Murdoc had made. He'd given up on her so fast - he's just gone and replaced her. She felt the fire starting in her again. She wasn't sure if she could ever forgive him for this.

Turning away from the robot, she scowled at Murdoc. "Murdoc, I - "

Again she was stopped short - this time not by 2D, but by Russel.

"Babydoll, we'd better get off this beach quick. I can see some more planes coming and I don't want to be here when they get back," the giant drummer warned. He was still in the water but his voice boomed loud and clear over the battle-torn beach.

Noodle gave a short nod and said, "I'm coming."

Murdoc sighed. "I'll take the ship... Let's blow this dump."

2D looked from Noodle to Murdoc, and then up at Russel. "Can I come with you, Russ?"

"Sure thing, D. Hop on." Russel held out a huge hand for 2D to climb on to as Murdoc walked towards the dock to ready the Glitter Freeze.

"Ready, Noodle?" Russel asked curiously. Noodle was still standing over Cyborg's body, silent.

"One moment."

Noodle didn't want to bury the cyborg, but it still felt wrong to just..._ leave_ her there. She slowly knelt down and gently pried the shotgun out of the robot's cold fingertips before grabbing her by the arms and pulling her into the shade of the half-demolished mansion to lie among the debris and garbage that littered the sand. She gave the cyborg one last hard look before she climbed onto Russel's outstretched hand with 2D. They had a lot of catching up to do; they'd be able to talk all about what happened while they were apart, share their laughs and tears and their hatred for Murdoc.

But Noodle still couldn't get the image of the cyborg's final moments out of her head. The way her dying eyes had locked on Noodle's just as she realized she'd been shot.

_"Noodle."_


	2. Chapter 2

"So we're going to Hawaii now?" 2D asked Russel, whose head he was sitting on.

"That's were Mudz said to meet him," Russel replied, his voice shaking his whole skull. Noodle had put a blanket on it so they'd be comfortable on their long journey to the Aloha State. Her belongings - and anything useful that 2D had managed to salvage from the wreckage at the beach - were in backpacks.

"This is so great! I haven't been off the beach in forever," 2D said dreamily.

"Where was Murdoc keeping you?" Noodle asked. She was trying to keep her mind off the unsettling image of dead Cyborg Noodle by endlessly tracing her fingertips across the design on her mask.

"'E imprisoned me in an underwater room with that big sodding whale to guard me!" 2D spat, his dreamy expression disappearing instantly. "I'm so glad Russel killed it for me. Fanks Russ!"

"No problem, 'D."

"So he just left you all alone down there?" Noodle asked sadly, wishing she'd been able to free him sooner. Murdoc was just _awful_. Always had been, always would be. She was going to have a nice long 'chat' with him when they got to Hawaii. It wasn't going to be pretty.

"Well," 2D said, a small smile now replacing his scowl, "I wasn't always alone. Cyborg sometimes - "

He stopped suddenly, his smile fading. Noodle's eyes widened and she stared intently at the mask in her lap instead of at 2D.

2D gave a sigh, but managed to continue. "She used to come and keep me company sometimes. Before she went all psycho, I mean."

Noodle's mouth felt dry. She could tell by the fondness in his voice that he really had considered the robot a friend. Now she knew why he'd stuck up for her on the beach.

"She... She was nice to you? I thought she was just Murdoc's slave."

2D looked off across the open ocean wistfully. "She wasn't really so bad. When Murdoc was around I wouldn't mess with her, 'cause she would only follow his orders and do whatever he told her to do. But when Murdoc was asleep and she wasn't charging or patrolling, she would come to my room and cover the window so I couldn't see the whale, and say she was lonely. So we'd listen to music or watch a movie or sumfink. It was nice. She even got me out of my room sometimes, won me some... things." His eyes moved to the multicolored snake head sticking out of his backpack. It had washed up on the shore just as they were leaving and he'd stuck it in his bag silently.

"Of course, if I ever made a move to escape, the guns would come out... But that was part of 'er programming. Murdoc's bloody programming..." He shook his head. "I bet that's what happened to 'er. I bet she went nuts from taking his sodding orders all the time. he wasn't even nice to 'er, used to call 'er names all the time and chuck garbage at 'er... It's his fault, Murdoc and his bloody programming," he said bitterly. "You never got to know her the way I did, Noodle. By the time you got here, the Cyborg I knew was... gone."

Noodle was silent. The sound of the waves crashing around Russel's enormous body was all she could hear - until she picked up on a small sniffling sound. She looked at 2D to see he was rubbing his vacant eyes and looking away from her again, out at the ocean.

Noodle felt awful. She could tell that 2D had really cared about the robot and a terrible guilt began to settle in her stomach. Cyborg had been 2D's only company for almost three years... And then he had to witness her decent into madness and subsequent murder by Noodle. Noodle thought about what he'd said - 'you never got to know her the way I did.' In the end - when the robot had whispered her name - was that the Cyborg that 2D once knew, appearing for one last time in her final moments?

She probably would never know.

"E-Enough about all that," 2D said finally, composing himself. "What happened to you?"

Noodle gulped down the lump of guilt in her throat and began to tell her story.

"After the windmill crashed..."


	3. Chapter 3

When the trio finally arrived in Hawaii, it was nighttime. The beach that Russel had brought them to was, fortunately, empty. Noodle and 2D gathered their things and climbed onto Russel's hand, which he lowered to the soft beach sand. Then Russel dragged himself onto the sand for the first time since jumping off that dock to find Noodle.

Noodle hypothesized that Russel would shrink back down to his normal size if he stayed out of the water and stopped eating the questionable sea life within it. She sent 2D to one of the nearby beachside hotels to get a room for himself and order as much food as he could from the room service there. He had access to one of Murdoc's rum-buying bank accounts and 2D was more than happy to spend the old codger's money while he wasn't around. Russel would have plenty of food, and hopefully his exponential growth would be reversed.

Noodle planned to stay with Russel on the beach all night, but he would not let her.

"Babygirl, I'll be fine out here on my own. Go to the hotel with 2D," Russel encouraged her. "I know what happened on the beach was very hard on you. Maybe you'll finally be able to get a good night's sleep."

"I doubt it," Noodle replied, a hint of bitterness in her voice. She looked up at the man who had been her most constant guardian since she was a mere ten-year-old child. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I can take care of myself, Noodle," he chided her, "Go."

Noodle nodded in reluctant agreement and began her trek across the sand and back to civilization. Her mask once again covered her face; when she was with Russel, she didn't feel the need to hide, but now that she was out in the open she appreciated the secrecy it granted her. She was able to bypass everyone in the hotel lobby and head straight up to the room that 2D had rented. He'd given her a key when he'd brought to food out to the beach for Russel so she simply let herself in the room without even knocking. 2D was already in bed, but he was not asleep – he was sitting up on a pillow, messing with his iPad, which luckily had escaped Plastic Beach with only a few scratches.

"Noodle!" 2D said with a big smile when the Japanese girl entered, "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Russel insisted," Noodle said as lifted her mask and surveyed the hotel room. It was blandly colored but spacious. Near the entrance there was a small table with two chairs and an alcove with a sink and a door that led to the bathroom. In the main space of the room there were two beds across from a desk with a TV and a mini-fridge. Glass doors overlooked the beach, and Noodle could see Russel's huge dark shape outlined against the stars.

"The shower's real nice," 2D informed his bandmate, "I took a long one. Murdoc never used to let me use hot water, and now look at me! Showering in a room I bought with his money." His hair was still moist from his shower, and he looked very content.

"I suppose I'll go take one now," Noodle said with a small smile. "Do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

"'Course! You only have that one dress?" 2D asked as he hopped off the bed and rummaged through his backpack, which he'd left on the ground. As he dug through, he plucked the rainbow-colored snake out, paused for a moment, and then tossed it on the bed next to his iPad.

Noodle watched him. "I have a pair of black jeans, too, but they are not the most comfortable."

"'Ere you go," 2D said, getting up and handing Noodle a pair of his shorts and a red and white striped shirt. "These fings should be pretty comfortable for you… Probably a bit loose though."

"I don't mind. Thank you," Noodle said, bowing slightly before turning around and heading to the bathroom to shower.

Noodle tried not to think while she stood in the shower, but her mind once again began to wander its well-tread paths of worry and fear. As the steaming water poured down all around her, she wondered if she really would be able to sleep that night. Images of the battle on the beach still floated behind her eyes, and she could only imagine how much worse her nightmares would be because of them. Ever since the El Manana crash, she'd been plagued by constant nightmares. She could never take a deep sleep because she'd end up dreaming of blazing fire and choking smoke. While out on the ocean, she'd survived by taking short naps on Russel's head to avoid her night terrors. Now she not only had her fear of El Manana to worry about, but also the trauma from battle on the beach - a battle against a robot made in her own image…

She quickly ejected all thoughts of Cyborg from her mind. She couldn't bear to think about her.

Once she had finished her shower and dressed in the clothes 2D had lent her, she turned out all the lights and climbed into bed. Maybe she would be able to sleep, now that she was back with 2D, and Murdoc was out lost on the ocean somewhere.

"Goodnight, 2D," Noodle said. She'd missed being able to say that.

"Goodnight, Noods," 2D replied, shutting off his iPad and curling up under the covers with the rainbow snake. Noodle was sure he would have sweet dreams, now that he was no longer being guarded by a whale. But she couldn't say that much for herself.

Resting her head on the soft pillow, she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, everything around her was covered in a haze of red. She could barely make out where she was or what she was looking at. She could hear things exploding all around her and the muffled voices of people she couldn't understand. She had no control of her body; she didn't know where she was going but she just kept walking, walking through the dark red blur of her world. As the shadowy forms of people passed her, target signs appeared in her vision and she instantly shot at them with the guns she was holding. As she walked, the pattern continued; a shadow would appear with a target on it and she'd pull the trigger, never missing a single shot. She didn't feel anything for the people she shot down; they were simply targets to her. They didn't even put up a fight. Except for one.

Another shadow appeared, but this time it was moving too quick for her to shoot on sight. The shadow darted around her, and her target followed it. She shot in all directions, missing every time. Then the shadow disappeared altogether. She looked around for it, scanning the red haze of a battlefield.

Suddenly she was knocked upside the head with something hard, and the all of the red disappeared. She could see the sun and the sand and the sky, and a thousand voices in her head screamed 'ERROR, ERROR', but she paid no attention to them; she was staring at the person who'd just hit her, her eyes widening in recognition –

And then there was a gunshot, pain, and a million more error messages.

Noodle knew what was coming next. She wobbled on her feet, still staring at the all-too familiar girl with the cat mask standing before her, and gasped, _"Noodle."_

Noodle awoke in a cold sweat, her heart hammering, whole body shaking with the effort it took to breathe. She sat up and wrapped her arms around herself in a tight hug, as if she really had been shot and was trying to hold herself together.

She knew what she had just seen. She didn't even have to wonder. It had all been so real to her – because it was.

Swallowing hard, Noodle made her decision. Her nightmare – her vision – had convinced her that this was what she had to do.

She had to return to Plastic Beach and bring Cyborg back.


End file.
